ESPN 09-10 West standing forecast: Wolves 13th place

[Mcfale313]

13
Minn. Timberwolves 26 56 .317 24 58 .293
Minnesota's noisy offseason of trades, controversial draft picks, the firing of Kevin McHale, the hiring of Kurt Rambis and a failed bid to sign Ricky Rubio is likely to be followed by a quiet season on the hardwood. The immediate future is about getting Al Jefferson healthy and seeing what youngsters Kevin Love and Jonny Flynn can do.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/stor ... tStandings

****, no way the thunder wins 6 more games than us

I think 34-48 more likely

[C.lupus]

I'm surprised they don't have us 15th. Seems about right to me.

[The J Rocka]

I think we will be better than the Thunder or at least tied with them

[Dan's with the Wolves]

The wolves are hard to handicap for next year because they have alot of question marks.

How will Al come back from injury?
Will Love experience the wolves sophomore curse?
How will Brewer mature from injury?
Will Flynn limit his turnovers?
who will pickup the scoring from Miller/Foye?

These are probably worth a range of +/- 10 games from last years record. So somewhere between 14 to 34 wins.

Hopefully all the above turns out positively and they win 10 more games than last year.

[cpfsf]

I think OKC is generally overrated (not in this article), but I think they will be a better team than us next year. We lost our entire bench now that Telfair, Foye, Smith, and Miller are gone. We just added Flynn, Ellington, and Hollins, but I don't think that's enough to make any improvement now that our bench is depleted.

[Dan's with the Wolves]

Arguably the Wolves were at their best last year when Telfair was playing at his best. I looking forward to having a true point guard that can get the rest of the team some easy buckets. If everybody stays healthy and Flynn is the real deal, this should be a fun season.

[Devilzsidewalk]

granted they have to prove it, but on paper OKC`s roster spanks the **** out of MNs roster

they got offense, defense, shooting, slashing, all they really need is a nice low post scorer. Move Green plus stuff for amare or booz and their team is complete, just need to sit back and let the players get ripe

[deeney0]

I'm surprised they don't have us 15th.

[revprodeji]

Why does OKC spank us? I think OKC, Mem and us are within reach of each other value wise. it is a matter of whose young people grow and how they develop chemistry.

[Vega06]

I think OKC has more/better talent than us overall. Add that to the fact that for this season, we lost talent and on-court production, the Thunder finishing higher than us isn't a stretch. These standings look about right to me, I do think Sac will be a little better than 21 wins though.

[TheFranchise21]

I think the Thunder could be a team that surprises a few people. Durant is coming along nicely, Green fits the Robin role and they just added legit second scorer in Harden who was maybe the most NBA ready player in the draft.

I don't really care where we finish because it won't be good enough for the playoffs anyway. I just hope Al and Kevin stay healthy, and Flynn has a good rookie year.

[Vindicater]

Durant>Jefferson
Green=Love
Harden>Brewer
Westbrook>Flynn

OKC>Minnesota

[cpfsf]

Durant>Jefferson
Green=Love
Harden>Brewer
Westbrook>Flynn

OKC>Minnesota

Love>Green

But I agree next year OKC will be be better than us next year. But that of course ignores the fact that Rubio and Pekovic are still stashed oversees.

[revprodeji]

yea, not future investments, just this year.

btw, Jefferson>=Durant he has hype, but Jefferson is a low post and his rebounding/blocking is big for us.

[Krapinsky]

OKC is one year ahead of us in the rebuilding process and as a result should be better than us next year. They've also had less player turnover and return the same coach, so they should have a head start in the chemistry department right away.

Ahead of Memphis and Sacramento seems exactly right, although the Rockets and the Warriors have the potential to be last years Clippers.

[Krapinsky]

yea, not future investments, just this year.

btw, Jefferson>=Durant he has hype, but Jefferson is a low post and his rebounding/blocking is big for us.

I'll have to respectfully disagree here. Durant is the best player to enter the league since Lebron. He's still only 21 and just came off a year where he put up 25 and 6 with great shooting %.

[The J Rocka]

After mid-season

Flynn > Westbrook

[MN Die Hard]

I agree with Dr. K. I dont think many folks around the league would take Jefferson over Durant if given the choice between the two.

[Jose Cordoba]

This is a hard-question to answer.

I'd trade Al for Durant- but they're similar players. Neither contributes a lot on the Defensive End of the floor although Al contributes rebounds and blocks. I think Durant's overrated as evidenced by his hideous plus/minus numbers. While a gifted scorer- there seems to be a disconnect with the rest of his game helping OKC win. Durant's a better player in the long-term-but he's currently way overrated around the NBA. Translation: He's nowhere comparable to Lebron or D.Wade.

[revprodeji]

My logic is that a big has more value if there is comparable production. Because the big is able to provide help on the board and potentially back line defense. Durant is a freak. Amazing talent. But I still think it is better to build a big as your cornerstone. Their advanced stats are remarkably similar. I think I also pick Al Jefferson because you know the areas he needs to improve in order to explode and hopefully they get addressed

-Less Jump shots and more inside play (51% of shots are jumpers)
-More FT attempts (might be related to above)
-Better defensive effort
-Passing out of double teams.

Adding a real coach, real pg and a developing Klove should help those issues.